Lose Control
by TheDarknessIsTheLight
Summary: The fact that he didn't notice was either a sign of his general boyish stupidity, or he loyalty to me. But most likely the latter. Mikey has a new friend, who Allie's not too happy about.


Lose Control

**Disclaimer: All rights go to Neal Shusterman.**

Maybe I always knew the day would come when Mikey would either get bored of being nice or get bored of listening to me. Maybe I also knew that his minions from his McGill days were more than just his followers. They gave him his sense of pride, a feeling that he was in control. So when he started gathering more minions, I wasn't necessarily surprised.

"Allie...I need to do this," Mikey said, his voice clear without a hint of regret.

"I understand, but you remember what I said about good deeds?" I said, holding his gaze. He didn't reply. It figured, I didn't expect him to reply anyways.

Days passed, but what were days to an Afterlight? Mikey's little gang began to grow is numbers, each uglier than the last. Each with a weirder reason for death than the last. And each with a cruel need to inflict suffering. I'd hoped that Mikey no longer felt such a desire, but I could tell he did. I couldn't understand why.

More days went by and I was starting to feel more rejection from Mikey. It radiated off of him. He was caught up, obsessed with this idea that he would once again be the most feared being in Everlost. Until he came up to me.

"I think we should move on," he said, his face straight, not a hint of...anything. He was getting good at it. Caught up with that thought of his lack of emotions, it took a while for his words to actually hit me.

"Wh-what?" I was at a loss. Despite the truth that pain wasn't an option in Everlost, it still hurt. I realized just how much he meant to me right then.

"Yeah, it's clear there's no one left to join in this city. I think there's a small town just south of here," he said. I was actually relieved and it showed on my face. I guess his talent for hiding emotions wasn't mutual.

"Oh...um actually, I think it's west," I said, a quick and stupid lie of a cover up.

"What did you think I meant?" he asked, strangely intuitive.

"Nothing," I said quickly. He didn't press it further, but mainly because I was walking away. I knew he hated when I did that.

Maybe he was mad at me for not answering him and then ignoring him for the next few days, but before I knew it, he'd found a replacement me. And she wasn't just another ugly minion. I glared as he led her towards me, actually smiling.

"Allie, this is Gina; the newest addition." She was glowing in his general direction, which made me wonder. I frowned. Mikey had never had a female accomplice; at I couldn't remember if he did.

"How nice," I said, my voice was dripping with sarcasm, and they both knew it. Of course little Gina was too caught up in staring at Mikey. I looked at her and said, "If you like that, you should see him when he grows tentacles." She gave me a look and walked off.

"So I take you don't like her..." Mikey said. Leave it to him to state what's right in your face. In this case, right in his face.

"Are you kidding?" I said.

"Well...she's not that bad. Give her a chance." That was it; he walked away without a word, obviously headed back to _her_.

* * *

We moved a little further each day, just a larger group of Afterlights, growing with each passing town. But Mikey knew where his loyalties lay. He had his priorities...and then there was Gina. With every passing day, it became clearer that she had fallen for Mikey. The fact that he didn't notice was either a sign of his general boyish stupidity, or he loyalty to me. But most likely the latter.

I confronted her every chance I got, trying to judge her character. She seemed fine on the outside. But it was all too easy to see who she was. Died in her expensive, brand-name clothes, face caked with make-up and her hair curled like she was ready for a ball. I mean, really? What was this?

I asked her how she died, which is a topic I would never actually go near, but this girl was hiding something. Turns out she and a couple friends were sneaking into the zoo at night. Automatically, I assumed she had been mauled by some animal, but no. She got caught in the electronic gate.

Thankfully, her make-up was starting to look more clownish with every passing day. When I heard myself think that, I realized just how jealous I was. And Mikey hadn't even noticed.

One day, I heard Mikey discussing where he was planning to go next with Gina. That was probably the only thing we had discussed for the past week, and now he was cutting me out and talking to her about it. It hurt.

I don't know what got over me, but I just walked over to him and kissed him. The usual heatless Everlost kiss, but Mikey was definitely pleased. More importantly, I could feel Gina's rage.

"What are you doing, Mikey?" she asked. Seeing as we were mid-kiss, Mikey wasn't in a rush to answer. She got up and pulled me off of him. I hadn't made a good judgement about placement, because I was inches from a bridge, straight into a fast flowing river. And she was second from pushing me over.

She lost control, and her hands were inches from my shoulders, but Mikey moved fast. He pushed her to the ground.

"You seriously thought you were going to push Allie into the water?" he asked, laughing. "Next I suppose you would try to overturn me!" His annoying 'power' antics weren't funny, so I rolled my eyes.

Gina was up and again, and ready to strike. "Of course not, Mikey, I care about you."

I scoffed, "Well, clearly he doesn't care about you...so..."

"Allie...you...you're not like this. I know you."

"I...I don't know, Mikey. I..."

"Got jealous?" he said, smirking.

"Insufferable..." Gina and I said at the same time. I gave her one look, my eyes clearly repenting. She got the message.

"To you, I'm the McGill."

Gina glared at him, "Well, name won't be necessary. I'm not needed here. Bye Allie. Bye...McGill."

After she left, I looked at Mikey, "Was that McGill comment really needed?"

He grinned, and kissed me.


End file.
